I’ve really loved the learning opportunities that working at Kea brings. Getting to really dive into this sphere after spending 4 years focused on Literature has been amazing. As much as I loved studying Literature, I felt like I was missing the exposure to other sectors, and this 180° flip into finance has been a welcome change of course and a breath of fresh air! The culture’s focus on collaboration here has been great as well. Settling into a group of people so readily willing to help has been really wonderful.
Studying Comparative Literature was essentially a deep exploration of reading between the lines, bridging patterns and systems of meaning, and allowing the overlaps to colour in the blank spaces.
It was also a lot of reading, but conceptually it showed me how the same thing can pop up in so many different disguises, whether that’s a literary motif or a candidate profile. Variations like tone, grammar, years of experience, and professional exposure add richness and background to essential similarities.
Kea's values
Inquisitive Listening is one I find myself coming back to a lot. To me it means being receptive and present with the people surrounding you and the settings you find yourself in. It’s an interesting mix of empathy and logic, in the sense that it involves almost intellectually processing an experience outside of your own perspective, and being able to relate and digest that in the framework of your own experiences.
KEA
What made you join Kea?
MV
Kea’s the only recruitment firm that I’ve worked at but was one of many that I interviewed with. I can’t speak to the day-to-day experience of working with other firms, but the collaborative nature, team ethos, and impeccable taste in reality TV came through strongly in the interview process and even stronger in the office.
KEA
What does it take to be successful in your role?
MV
I wouldn’t be able to answer from personal experience (as lovely as I have found my first couple of months here, it would be a bit of a stretch to reflect on the successes I’ve had as career-defining and trail-blazing). What I see around me in my colleagues though is that they’ve developed a real sense of trustworthiness. Candidates trust us with helping them through their careers, and clients trust us to know talent - more specifically, to know talent that solves their pain points.
My edge
I’m one of the newest joiners, so I’m still in the thick of figuring out what exactly my edge is! I’ve been working on how to combine my international upbringing and multicultural perspective with this line of work, and I really look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.